High School Swim Mom

[ZenGum]

Wouldn't it be cheaper just to buy normal swimsuits for all the other competitors? [/commie]

[monster]

Originally Posted by glatt

Yeah, I've never been involved closely enough to know the details of our fundraising. My daughter is in the school band, and they do band trips to competitions where they need to pay for the bus and hotels. But there is fundraising done so that everyone, regardless of income, can go. I don't know how they determine which students get a free ride, and which pay out of pocket, but we have always just paid out of pocket. (Maybe they look at the list of who gets the free school lunches.)

It seems a little strange that you have to buy the team suit, but then are encouraged to swim in a different one. Maybe they should tell parents about that up front, so you can decide where to focus your spending and get one or the other and not both.

If they all go, then it's good.

having digested it and thunk about it, I'm kind of fine with it actually. Although I'd obviously rather not fork over the 150. This is a suit that you would only wear for the BIG meets. Teams suits are de rigeur at dual meets. This is for when you're REALLY FLIPPING SERIOUS. Only 10 of the team of 45 made MISCAs most had only one cut, she had two. Less than that have made States so far. She is good, $150 is not really a lot for a pice of sports equipment at this level. it just feels like a lot because it's an itst bitsy thin swimsuit. But we paid $70 last year for a used blocker and catcher for Hector and knew we had a steal. and $40 for used legpads and $40 for a used helmet and $40 for used skates...... And coach says these suits now last for much longer than they used to, and she's going to try and instigate a pass-it-down program, so if SG outgrows it, hopefully she will be able to pass it down to the next person with her body shape, and there will be someone to pass one to her....

So anyway, I was kinda thinking I was into it, but needed to discuss with beest, then i walked onto deck tonight and was immediatley accosted by coach, who let me know in no uncertain terms that SG is awesome, they have huge plans for her and the suit is pretty much not a choice......

And apparently Stu -the coaches husband- was one of the 5 responsible for it's design and development -the American part of a 5-people, 5-nation team. And then i saw him personally supervising SG's warm up. These people -who are well respected in the swim coaching world- are investing so much in her it's wonderful and scary.....

Today, while waiting to pick her up from school, I was reading her USA Swimming magazine, and saw that her time was much closer to the current olympians' times than I had thought it would be, so I checked it out, just a few minutes ago. Her current time for the 100 yard breaststroke -when converted to 50m long cours as per olympics) would have been a world record in 1958. OK, so things have come a long way -but that's pretty bloody fast. She's 6 seconds behind the fastest high school girls in the State (who are actually also on her team), but she's 13 and one of them is 18. And she's dropped 8 seconds in the last 7 weeks. I'm totally blown away by this. I know it seems I'm all brag here, but that's really not the point of this. I knew she was good, but I really hadn't grasped how good and how excited people were about her until today.... So many other parents made a point of coming over and saying something complimentary tonight.... Their daughters are even faster, it's so nice that they noticed and took the time to say so.

Tonight, she didn't swim any relays because coach wanted her to save energy for the breaststroke (it's always the penultimate event). She swam the IM towards the beginning and took 3rd with a new personal best time. She came second in the breaststroke, only 4 seconds behind the State champion of 2 years ago and in front of the girl who did get a state cut on Saturday. She hated her race -and it's true, her turns were poor, but she still swam her second best time ever.

We remain undefeated. Next week we swim the state powerhouse, though. they are undefeated in forever. But SG says she likes that pool and is confident she will get her state cut there. go SG, I love you. I'm so proud of you and the work you put in to be the best that you can be.

[Clodfobble]

Man, I can't wait until I can watch her on TV in the Olympics, and I can trot out the awkward photo evidence and say, "She came to my house once!"

[glatt]

This is exciting. Way to go SG!

[monster]

SG just got a text from coach.... only two more morning practices and then tapering for SECs (Regional championships)... but her and two others who are sooooo close to a state cut are on a "special taper schedule". we have yet to learn what this means, but it involves more weight training, apparently..... this is really starting to feel pretty heavy...... and exciting... and scary... and suddenly way beyond recreational swim team....

wow.

[monster]

oh and the special suit may now be $225.......

[monster]

....oh, and, they heard that one of the seniors River rats is going to Olympic trials. They raced each other in the 200IM at our dual meet. Olympian was 1st, SG was 4th, but not even by half a length....

...and yet $225. Takes money to be an amateur....

[ZenGum]

$225 = new faster suit.
new faster suit = half a length per 200M.
Half a length = olympic trials.

So long as SG is still enjoying this and seroius about pushing it, this is definitely worth paying for. Sell Hector.

[monster]

So we decided to/finally came to terms with the fact that we need to cough up the 225.

$225 for a 3oz piece of material that's virtually disposable is kinda hard to stomach. But if coach said "she needs to attend this weekend stroke clinic, it will cost $225", we'd've had far less problem commiting ...and yet time is also disposableand the results may be comparable..

Also... I was kinda hoping/dreaming she'd get the cut a the meet tomorrow (Thu), and it would make the decision (rqd by Friday) more crystal cut. But no, coach is resting her from the breaststroke this meet. Instead, she's swimming her worst stroke -backstroke. Because she's improved it so much. (IM -which involves all 4 strokes- is her second best event, so this is important) they want to see how well she can do. And they've put her in the 50 free. Also not her event, but she's come a long way, baby!

In other news, they're tapering (reducing practice to reserve energy for "the big one".). I'm all done with the 5am starts! Just as I was getting used to them. (Monday was the last 6am practice for most swimmers, but "State" swimmers taper later. Even though she doesn't yet have a cut, SG was included in the State group (which numbers about 10, out of the team of 45)

I joked with SG about the "shaved and tapered" thing (=readiness for a big meet). Swimmers shave all body hair before big meets, high school girls generally have a thing about not shaving their legs all season until the night before championships, so they get the "extra drag" at practice, and feel more aerodynamic at championships. She informed me she hasn't shave dthem all Season and Nov 3rd is shaving day. OMFG, my baby is not a baby any more.....

.....

So here's the thing.... There is a sophomore on the team who has times better that Senior River Rat who's going to Olympic trials (allegedly) did when she was a sophomore. i think this girl may also get invited to a trial when the time comes. but.... all of the swimmers who are serious competition for SG swim for he same powerhouse AA club (since they were 6sh, and off season now they're at high school) -the one Phelps swam for.... Costs a fortune. SG's coach is/was a coach for this team. They mean business. Swiming is not fun for them, it's business. The sophomore's mom is a coach there.

SG swims/swam with the nearest "rival" team. A fun team, with good, balanced workouts, but no olympic dreams. In her first season, she has dropped8 seconds on her best event. These other swimmers came in better, but only dropped two or three in their first season....

[monster]

We're nervous.


Last night she (who sleeps like the dead) woke up and got up at 11 (when we were starting to head to bed) thinking it was morning. She reports also waking at 1 and thinking time to get up, but checking the clock and realising not. then at 3 she woke up and figured it must be time to get up, didn't check the clock properly, had breakfast, got her stuff together, then saw the clock...... so went back to bed for a couple of hours -dressed and ready to go. Today wasn't even THE DAY.

It's tomorrow and Saturday. (District Championships -all the local big high schools)

I'm nervous too, although I'm trying/pretending not to be. But I keep playing over the scenarios for if she doesn't get the State cut. She's 13 FFS, this is nuts!

We have the psych sheets, and she's looking good.... Psych sheets are lists of swimmers in seed order for each event. She's 9th seed (out of 38) in the 200 IM -highest seeded freshman. Heats have 8 swimmers, so 9th seed means she'll be in the prime lane in the second fastest heat -a good position to make it to the last 8. She has 9 seconds to drop to get a state cut in this event, so that isn't likely, but in the top heat at finals on Saturday would be spectacular!
And then she's 10th (out of 61) seed for breaststroke. Which seems worse, but 4 of the 9 above her are her teammates, and she's less than a second off the state cut on this one.

A state cut means you qualify to swim at the state chamionships. This is the level where universities start to take note.

[ZenGum]

Originally Posted by ZenGum

$225 = new faster suit.
new faster suit = half a length per 200M.
Half a length = olympic trials.

Should have added
Olympic trials = college scholarship
College Scholarship > $225.

Originally Posted by monster

We're nervous.

Today wasn't even THE DAY.

Although, seriously, too much of this isn't good. I hope it is just the "first big meet" nerves.

[monster]

Externally, she's more excited than nervous. I think the sleep thing is partially due to the tapering -within a week she's gone from 5-6 hours per day to less than 2 with no morning practice, but she's keeping the same bedtime.

She posted on Facebook tonight about shaving her legs for the first time in the season -and all her other freshmen friends on all the other teams in the city were all IKR..... so funny.

[ZenGum]

IKR?

[classicman]

ikr = i know right.

[ZenGum]

TNX.